Barack Obama Blasts Donald Trump for Treating Presidency Like a ‘Reality Show’

Former President Barack Obama blasted reality-star-turned-president Donald Trump at a Joe Biden rally on Saturday, criticizing his successor for only “feeding his ego” during his time in the White House. During a drive-in rally for the Democratic nominee and former Vice President Biden in Flint, Michigan, Obama scrutinized Trump for his failure to sharpen his attention on the country and stylizing politics as his personal “reality show.”

“[Trump] hasn’t shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself or his friends or treating the presidency as anything more than a reality show to give him the attention that he craves,” Obama said before adding it’s all about “feeding his ego,” according to the Detroit Free Press. “But unfortunately, the rest of us have to live with the consequences.”

With less than one week to go before the Nov. 3 election, the 59-year-old went on to detail the differences between Biden and Trump, emphasizing how Biden is as dedicated to the role as president like he was as VP in his two-term administration from 2009 to 2017. “I can tell you that the presidency doesn’t change who you are,” he said. “It shows who you are. It reveals who you are and for eight years, Joe was the last one in the room when I made a big decision.”

As Obama affirmed how “Joe cares about keeping you and your family safe,” he went on to state how tweeting at your TV doesn’t fix things, nor does “making stuff up” make the lives of others better. “You’ve got to have a plan,” he said. “You’ve got to put in the work. Joe’s not going to screw up testing. Joe’s not going to call scientists idiots. He’s not going to host superspreader events across this country.”

The former president also quipped over Trump’s persistent “obsession with crowd size,” claiming how it’s the 74-year-old’s “one measure he has of success.” Obama went on to joke Trump’s fascination with size must have something to do with his childhood. “Did nobody come to his birthday party when he was a kid? Is he traumatized?” Obama asked. “What’s with crowds?”

Similarly to his previous criticisms of Trump, Obama also honed in on Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, rebuking the former Apprentice star’s dispute over American voters and the media being “too focused” on the virus, referencing the baseless argument Trump made on Friday while in the state.

“‘COVID, COVID, COVID,’ he’s complaining,” Obama posited. “He’s jealous of COVID’s media coverage. And now he’s accusing doctors of profiting off of this pandemic,” Obama said. “He does not understand the notion that somebody would risk their lives to save others without making a buck.”

Obama made similar comments about Trump at a Florida drive-in rally last weekend, admitting that Trump isn’t even taking the “basic steps” to protect himself from COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus after he contracted the virus earlier this month. The U.S. recorded its 9 millionth case Friday, which accounts for nearly 3% of the population. According to Reuters, almost 229,000 have died since the outbreak of the pandemic early this year. The number of hospitalized patients has risen over 50% in October to 46,000, the highest since mid-August.